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An essay donated by Amarjit Singh

Two stories about being possessed by possessions

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The old man and the Westminster chime clock:

I was in a shoe sale near Swanley in Kent, England and saw a lovely
Westminster chime clock for sale. "One proud owner," said the market trader.
"Look at it its pristine condition; very well looked after."

It had a fantastic chime, just like the one we had back home in Tanzania when
I was a little boy some 50 years ago. As the Clock chimed the chimes took me
back to that period. I must buy this clock I thought.

As I was about to pay for the clock, Sai Baba suddenly appeared next to me in
the shoe sale.
I looked at him said ''Wow Baba! Were you bored and have come to visit this shoe
sale?''

Baba said, sternly: "Amarjit do you really want this clock?''

I replied ''Yes Baba hear the chimes and look at it, its fantastic.'

Baba looked at me in a bemused fashion and then said: "Okay buy it, but look
who will come to your home with it." He motioned to the old man polishing the
clock.

Baba then said ''Its the old owner he has passed away. However he does not
realize this. He was so attached to his possessions that when he died, he did
not realize that he was no longer alive. Every night he comes to polish the
clock and also to wind it. Do you want him in your house?

Baba continued: "I say to you Amarjit: 'Practice attachment and detachment
always, so when your time comes to passover -- to leave this body -- you do not
become so attached to your possessions that you fail to see the hand of the
angels who will come to take you.'

Attachment means holding onto things dearly as if you cannot live without
them as if your very happiness and existence depends on them (sexual
relationships, family , revenge, home, land, cars etc.). These are the invisible
strings that tie you to the external world and they will not allow your soul to
recognize your death when it comes!''

Then, Sai Baba left as suddenly as he appeared.

George and his model trains:

I was sitting in my office in the hangar at Biggin Hill Airport with my son
Shonu, chief engineer Ashley. George Hammond -- one of our customers, about 56
years-of-age, and a very good friend -- walked in. We have flown many hours
together. He is a lovely man very full of compassion. He does a lot of charity
work for the community. George owns two light aircraft which we repair.

I looked at George and saw that he was disturbed. I asked: "What is your
problem; you don't look happy."

George said " Singh I do have a problem and I don't know what to do. I have 2
large rooms in my home where I have some 5,000 pieces of model trains.
Christies' auctioneers have drawn up a contract for me to sell them in the
auction. I just cant sign it "

As George said this I looked at him and standing beside him was a green model
train.

I described the train to George and he said: "Singh, this is my favorite
train. I Have played with it for many hours. How can you see it standing next to
me?"

As he spoke, suddenly the model train started to speak to me: "Amarjit: tell
George I speak for the trains and we cannot bear to be parted from George. He
has given us a lot of love. We cannot bear the parting and we cannot accept him
selling us !" I thought I had gone mad that a train could talk.

I told George the message the train had given to me. My son Ashley and George
were looking at me as if I had lost my mind. They asked if I was all right.

As they questioned me, Suddenly Sai Baba ji stood in our office. I said "Sai
Baba ji I am going mad; how can a train talk to me."

Sai Baba ji replied "Amarjit, George has given so much of his devotion & love
to the trains that he has awakened their God consciousness." Sai Baba explained
that every particle of creation has God consciousness. "What you can do is to
recite some Mantras and ask for the ties that bind to be dissolved."

I asked George if he wanted these ties to be dissolved. He agreed.

I did some mantras and observed the ties dissolving. I said to the green train
that George has promised they would be sold to a person who would look after
them. The green train on behalf of the trains accepted. Shortly after this,
George sold the trains for some thousands of pounds.

Then Sai Baba spoke to me and said: "Amarjit I have come to raise you to your
next level;
"Practice attachment and detachment always."

Ties or chords must be dissolved with much devotion and love. I remember when a
friend asked for his ties to be cut with another person with whom he had worked
in a previous life. The Karma had carried on into his current lifetime. When the
ties were cut, they were literally severed -- cut without devotion or asking God
to oversee the dissolving of these ties. The other person's house exploded at
the same time the ties were cut and burned to the ground. Fortunately, no one
was hurt in the fire. So be careful, raise your love and devotion,

As Sai Baba ji says: "Energy follows thought. What we think manifests if not
in this dimension then in another. So even our thoughts must be pure all the
time. What or who we are thinking about is actually happening in another level.
The other person is affected by our thoughts. So the only attachment we must
have is with God.